Today’s mantra is to, Keep Your Eye on the Prize. Stay Focused! Focusing is tough and proves to be challenging for most of us. However, when you focus on something, you are able to accomplish and complete a goal set within the objective, schedule and budget. Focusing takes a lot of concentration and intentional effort in business today. There are so many different distractions coming at us that it can be very difficult to really focus on the strategy, tactic, or meeting at hand. We have our co-workers, supervisor, vendors, suppliers, industry partners, the list seems never ending as they are constantly stopping by our office, calling, or emailing us – ultimately demanding our time and focus, at times this can feel overwhelming.
It has been proven that your brain can really only focus on two to three things at a time. One of those things is your body function like breathing and keeping your heart beating. That leaves one to two things you can do with your mind and body. Multi-tasking used to be the popular buzz word people would list as a skill set on their resume, but today, after many years of research, it’s been discovered multi-tasking actually makes you less productive and efficient. By focusing on one thing at a time and prioritizing your schedule, you can be much more productive in your daily work life, and even in your personal life.
So what does this have to do with marketing? Focus on one or two marketing related strategies and tactics at a time. Become an expert at these and then move onto the next one. (As a side note, I am guilty of not being focused and get easily distracted. Because of my type A personality, I want to improve and change everything all at once. Realistically, this isn’t possible and I know this, so I have to reign myself back in to remind myself to stop and focus.) (For additional information on helping you put your strategic marketing plan together, click here for a previous blog about strategic marketing plans.
Prioritizing these strategies and tactics can be difficult sometimes, because at the end of the day you know eventually all of these initiatives need to be implemented. Look at your list of marketing strategies and tactics and determine which one would help you complete others on the list by completing that one. It’s the domino effect. For example, if you know you need to get some client references for proposals, information about projects, and capture some completed pictures, then you could set up a meeting with the client. At the meeting, you can capture some photos of the completed project and ask them a series of questions about the project and ask for a testimonial. You have now completed all three in one meeting AND even built some rapport with the client. Essentially, you have completed four different tactics! You can also use the client testimonials and project sheets in many other places besides proposals, so you are knocking out more than you even realize.
If you have to shut your door or leave the office for an hour to complete some important items, then you should do it. Your time will be well spent focusing on what’s in front of you. Don’t lose sight of the big picture, though, and get caught in the rat race. Make sure there is always a “why” behind what you are doing or creating. Focusing for just an hour or two a day will change your life, both personally and professionally.
Start focusing on your strategies today. One by one you’ll be moving through your plan. Let us know after a month of focusing on your strategies and tactics how it’s going. Email us at lindsay@numarketingllc.com. We’d love to hear from you!
Stay Focused!
